Another health-indicators tool recently debuted. It's an online tracking program that allows you to hone in on health risks -- like asthma and childhood obesity -- by ZIP code in the Sacramento area. It's the byproduct of a community needs assessment jointly performed by Catholic Healthcare West, Sutter Health, Kaiser Permanente and UC Davis.

The Sacramento Bee quotes one participant as hoping this is a starter for more research. And, just so you know, Fresno-area hospitals and health providers have been talking and meeting for the last couple of years trying to map a joint approach to targeting specific area health needs. One idea considered is compiling a dossier of data for all activists to tap into.